Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) and other dangerous sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) conditions affect thousands worldwide. Numerous techniques have emerged for treating SDB, including, for example, the use of Positive Airway Pressure (PAP) devices, which continuously provide pressurized air or other breathable gas to the entrance of a patient's airways via a patient interface (e.g. a mask) at a pressure elevated above atmospheric pressure, typically in the range 3-20 cm H2O. Typically, patients suspected of suffering from SDB register with a certified sleep laboratory where sleep technicians fit patients with numerous data collectors and monitor their sleep activity over a given period. After the patient is diagnosed, a treatment regimen usually is developed, identifying both a treatment apparatus (or treatment apparatuses) and program of use for the treatment apparatus(es).
FIG. 1 shows a simplified schematic of a typical CPAP treatment apparatus. An impeller 1 is powered by an electric motor 2 using a servo 3 under the direction of a microprocessor-based controller 4. The supply of breathable gas is carried to the mask 5 through a flexible conduit 6. The apparatus has various switches 7, displays 8, and a number of transducers. The transducers may monitor a number of processes, such as, for example volumetric flow rate 10 (e.g., at a predetermined point in the flow path), pressure 11 (e.g., at a predetermined point downstream of the flow generator outlet or at the mask), snore 12, flow generator rotational speed 13, and/or motor parameters 14.
It is well known for sleep clinics to observe and treat patients with respiratory disorders such as SDB or respiratory insufficiency (RI) with devices like the one shown in FIG. 1. Observable symptoms of SDB and/or RI only occur during sleep. Thus, it will be appreciated that disturbing a sleeping patient wastes effort and resources, and also reduces the amount of effective time that may be used to titrate the patient for an optimal therapeutic result. Accordingly, care must be taken when diagnosing and/or administering treatment to a patient, e.g., so as not to wake up the patient.
SDB symptoms often are layered. That is, treating one symptom may reveal yet another. Thus, the complicated nature of SDB symptoms typically means that a sleep clinician will attempt various different PAP therapies when diagnosing and/or treating a patient. As is known, each PAP therapy has a unique combination of settings that must be controlled. Unfortunately, it often is difficult to systematically and methodically attempt various PAP therapies and, similarly, it also is difficult to systematically and methodically vary the particular settings of a particular PAP therapy. Furthermore, switching from one PAP therapy mode to another may involve possibly large changes to one or more treatment parameters that may cause problems for the patient and/or cause the patient to wake up during diagnosis and/or treatment, thus leading to the above-noted disadvantages.
Thus, it will be appreciated that there is a need in the art for systems and/or methods that make it easier for a sleep clinician to diagnose and/or administer a treatment.